


night star

by cassandor



Series: constellations [1]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Jedha, Kid Bodhi, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-11-09 00:02:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11092692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cassandor/pseuds/cassandor
Summary: a long, long time ago when bodhi met baze and chirrut.





	night star

Swirling robes. Shuffling feet. A _lot_  of feet, and not much else.

Bodhi’s head snaps up from the old vendor’s collection of glittering trinkets - _kyber, kyber, come get your kyber jewelry -_ when he suddenly realizes he can no longer feel his mother’s presence by his side.

He looks up at the vendor, eyes wide, hoping to find solace in a toothy smile and reassurance that his mother was _just over there_. Instead, the vendor is busy bartering with another customer - _ah, my dear lady, that is kyber from the Temple itself! It’s worth more than a few credits, don’t you agree? -_ and paid no attention to the five year old who was peering over the edge of his stall. 

“Ammi?” his voice squeaks. He turns away from the kyber vendor and tries to peer through the haze of robes and cloaks and too-tall adults, searching for a familiar pair of feet that led to a familiar face. “Ammi?” 

He’s taken a few steps into the crowd - _Ammi? Have you seen my mother? Ammi? Where are you? -_ and now the wrinkly kyber vendor’s stall is nowhere to be seen. He’s jostled by the mass of moving beings, tossed around until his vision is blurred with tears and the only thing he can see in the gaps between people are the spires of the Temple. 

* * *

 _Tap, tap, tap_. Chirrut idly taps his staff against the ground.

“Can you feel the Living Force here?” he asks nobody in particular, face turned towards the open sky. 

“Aren’t you supposed to feel it _everywhere_?” Baze teases him lightly, the ever-present warmth at his side.

Chirrut chuckles. “Yes, of course. But when confined by the four walls of the Temple, it’s easy to lose _sight_ ,” Baze groans, “of it. Here, it rolls off the crowds, and-” he stops mid sentence, his staff ceasing its rhythmic tapping.

“Everything alright?” Chirrut can feel the shift in Baze’s body as he sits up, alert. 

“Someone’s scared.” _The Force moves darkly around a creature that’s afraid._

Baze scoffs, but Chirrut can tell he hasn’t brushed off the statement. “There’s a war going on, Chirrut. Of course people are scared.” 

“No, I just - there. Do you hear that?” 

Baze stills, waits a moment, and then replies. “Oh. A child.” 

“Can you see them?”

Chirrut waits, hears the rustling of fabric as Baze gets up and peers into the crowded market. “I see him.” 

* * *

The wide-eyed child looks up at Baze, then at Chirrut, scrutinizing their robes and Chirrut’s sightless gaze. 

“What’s your name, boy?” Chirrut asks gently. 

There’s a moment of silence. 

“He’s afraid,” Baze says. 

Chirrut suppresses a laugh. “I know _that_ Baze.” His face turns to the boy’s general direction. “See that big, silly man? He thinks you’re scared. You’re not scared, you’re a _brave_  boy. I can sense it.”

“Sense it?” the boy sniffs. _Ah._  Chirrut can feel Baze’s surprise and grins. 

“Of course. We’re Guardians, see?” Chirrut swooshes his robes.

“From the big Temple?” Chirrut nods, feeling the cloud of doubt dissipating as the boy relaxed. “My-my name’s Bodhi. I lost my Ammi.” 

Baze shifts unsteadily beside him. “You hear that,” he says gently, indicating the dialect,  “They’re probably from outside the walls.” 

Chirrut disguises a sigh as he straightens his posture. “Well, that’s good news. That means your mother won’t leave until she finds you. Why don’t we go back to where you last saw her? We will wait until she shows up.”

“Will she find me?” Bodhi’s voice wavers. 

“All is as the Force wills it,” Chirrut says with a smile, taking the boy’s hand in his. “And you’re a _brave_  boy, right?” He knows Bodhi nods, and grins. “Now, the big, silly man will lead the way, since I can’t see. Baze?” 

Baze grunts. “Where did you last see your mother, Bodhi?” 

“By the kyber-selling  _grandpa_.”

* * *

Bodhi’s perched on Baze’s - _the big, silly, man’s_  - shoulder, tear-stains replaced with sticky fruit juice smudged across his mouth. 

“Do you see her, boy?” 

Bodhi shakes his head, but the worry at the base of his stomach has been replaced with fresh fruit, renewing his sense of security. “Nope. But she’ll be here soon,” he says, a broad grin on his face, gaps where teeth had yet to grow back in. “The Force wills it.” 

The blind man smiles. “That’s right.” 

He’d been entertaining Bodhi with goofy faces and (slightly exaggerated) tales of adventures with _silly Baze_ for the better part of a standard hour, when suddenly Bodhi perks up. 

“Ammi!” he calls, waving his hands in the air. “Here!” 

Chirrut stands up, putting a hand on Baze’s shoulder. “ _It’s her_ ,” he whispers, feeling worry rolling off her in waves. _And yet -_  

“She looks very worried, oh - she’s spotted us,” Baze replies, setting Bodhi down by his feet.

“ _Mera beta!”_ The mother exclaims, and Chirrut can hear her sob of relief as she envelops Bodhi in a hug. “Thank you,” she says, once she’s settled. Her eyes flit between the two men, and then she gasps. “You both are Guardians, are you not?” 

Baze inclines his head. “We are, madam.” 

“Sorry to be of such a disturbance, my son is such a troublemaker,” the woman apologizes, shooting a scolding glance at Bodhi. He shrinks behind her skirt. Chirrut raises an eyebrow, for now that the cloud of worry is gone, he realizes she shines bright in the Force. 

“No need to reprimand your son,” Baze replies, studying the woman’s face. She is young and it shows, but poverty has its way of leaving scars. Her eyebrows are drawn together, lips pursed, but there’s a determined look on her face. 

“He may be a troublemaker,” Chirrut says, a touch of a smile on his lips, “but he is a brave boy indeed. He has a bright future,” and rests his palm on Bodhi’s head. A blessing. “As long as you show him the right path.” 

He can hear the sharp intake of breath, for a blessing from a Guardian is rare and much sought after. 

“Thank you,” she whispers, and Chirrut ruffles the boys’s hair before she pulls him away.

Baze watches the two disappear into the crowd before he turns to Chirrut. “Even I could feel her presence,” he says. Chirrut nods. 

“She shines like a star. His path is clear if she wills it.” 


End file.
